Campus Alert Archive
SFCC

A Parking-Lot Argument, Two Sets of Shots, and a Community College Lockdown a Block Away

WAlockdownemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the afternoon of Friday, June 14, 2024, Spokane Police responded to reports of shots fired at approximately 2:45 PM PDT in the 1900 block of North Holy Names Court — outside a Catholic Charities Eastern Washington apartment complex immediately adjacent to Spokane Falls Community College's main campus. Police told SFCC officials they were searching for one of the shooters in the area of the college and recommended a precautionary lockdown. Campus security executed the lockdown at approximately 3:00 PM PDT.

Alerts
3
Response
15 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Spokane Falls Community College
Community College · WA
~7,500 studentsSFCC Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction182 chars
SFCC Alert: Lockdown in effect. Spokane Police are searching for a shooting suspect near campus. Lock doors, stay inside, away from windows. Do not leave campus until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

SFCC's lockdown was precautionary and triggered by an external police request, not by an on-campus sighting — the alert language reflects that uncertainty by saying 'near campus' rather than 'on campus'
Campus security pushed the lockdown approximately 15 minutes after the first 911 calls at 2:45 PM PDT, consistent with the time required for SPD to relay their search radius to SFCC
The 'do not leave campus' instruction was unusual — most lockdown templates focus on staying indoors rather than restricting outbound movement, but SPD wanted to keep witnesses and bystanders out of the apartment-complex search area
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction185 chars
SFCC Alert Update: Lockdown remains in effect. SPD continues to search adjacent neighborhoods. Two parties believed to have exchanged gunfire have fled the scene. No suspects on campus.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The update introduced the 'two parties' framing for the first time, signaling to students that this was a localized dispute rather than a targeted school attack
'No suspects on campus' is a deliberate reassurance — it confirms that the search radius extended only adjacent to SFCC, not into academic buildings
The mid-lockdown update is notable for SFCC because community colleges often skip the middle of an alert sequence and jump directly from initial to all-clear
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction174 chars
SFCC Alert: All clear. Lockdown lifted. Spokane Police have completed their search of the area. Resume normal activities. SFCC will share additional information as available.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The all-clear came roughly 90 minutes after the lockdown began, on the lower end of the typical 'precautionary lockdown' duration
The closing line — 'SFCC will share additional information as available' — committed the college to a post-incident communication, a practice many community colleges have adopted to counter rumor amplification on social media
SPD never located the gunshot suspects in the immediate area; an arrest of a 17-year-old came over a month later in July 2024
Context

Background

Spokane Falls Community College sits on the West Plains of Spokane, immediately adjacent to a Catholic Charities Eastern Washington apartment complex (Sister Haven) in the 1900 block of North Holy Names Court. At approximately 2:45 PM PDT on Friday, June 14, 2024, Spokane Police responded to multiple reports of shots fired outside the apartment complex. Police believed two people or groups argued in the parking lot before exchanging gunfire; both parties fled before officers arrived. SPD asked SFCC to lock down as a precaution while officers searched the area, and campus security activated the lockdown at approximately 3:00 PM. KHQ Spokane and KREM 2 reported the lockdown lifted later that afternoon. No gunshot victims and no suspects were located in the immediate area. More than a month later, on July 19, 2024, Spokane Police arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of shooting a friend in the back near SFCC during this same incident — confirming the shooting was real, even though no victims were initially found. The case is illustrative of how community colleges, which historically under-invested in mass-notification platforms, have increasingly adopted the same Rave-Mobile-Safety-style alert practices as four-year peers, often catalyzed by exactly these kinds of adjacent-property incidents.
Analysis

Key Findings

The lockdown was triggered by Spokane PD's request, not by an on-campus sighting — a useful case study in mutual-aid alerting between municipal police and community-college campus security
No gunshot victims were initially located, but a real victim — shot in the back — emerged later, and a 17-year-old was arrested in July 2024 in connection with the same incident
SFCC pushed alerts approximately 15 minutes after the first 911 calls, a reasonable response time for a campus relying on relayed information rather than direct observation
The lockdown lasted approximately 90 minutes — a normal duration for a precautionary lockdown triggered by an adjacent-property incident
The case illustrates the porous boundary between community-college campuses and adjacent multifamily housing, a recurring vector for off-campus violence that triggers on-campus alerts
Outcome
Spokane Police believed two people or groups had argued in the apartment complex parking lot before shots were exchanged; both parties fled. No suspects and no gunshot victims were located on campus or in the immediate area. SFCC lifted the lockdown later that afternoon; a 17-year-old was [later arrested in connection with the shooting](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jul/19/17-year-old-boy-arrested-on-suspicion-of-shooting-/) in July 2024.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Shooting outside apartment complex sends Spokane Falls Community College into lockdown (Spokesman-Review)
    spokesman.com
  2. News
    Spokane Falls Community College in lockdown after nearby shooting (KHQ Spokane)
    khq.com
  3. News
    Spokane Falls Community College on lockdown as police investigate shooting near the school (KREM 2)
    krem.com
  4. News
    Catholic Charities issues statement on reported shooting near Spokane Falls Community College (FOX 28 Spokane)
    fox28spokane.com
  5. News
    17-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of shooting friend in back near SFCC (Spokesman-Review)
    spokesman.com
  6. Official
    SFCC Emergency Alert System
    sfcc.spokane.edu
Tags
lockdownadjacent-property-violencecommunity-collegespokanewashingtonmutual-aidoff-campus-shootingdelayed-arrest
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion